Distant Eyes
by Sombereyes
Summary: What if Teresa hadn't killed that bandit? What if she had retained enough wit about her to know better, and spare his life? What if she would have been free to wander the lands with Clare at her side? This is an AU story, where the death of the bandit doesn't occur, though the fire does. Follow Teresa as she understands what it means to first be a mother, and then something more.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know, I know...I'm behind on the times. I lost a bet, so I made a twitter account...that's now on my profile page...why I made it, I have no idea, but at least now I can keep people updated every day easily. This is the other half of that bet. I've got to stop making bets on crappy sports teams... /sigh. I owe him 15k words...and 15k words is what he will eventually get...

I don't own claymore.

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**Prologue**

Water drifted swiftly in such a way that the rushing noise echoed in the forest. It was such a comforting sound, and one that any claymore, solitary by nature, would grow accustom to. the river glistened when the sunlight occasionally peeked out from behind a cloud on the warm day. There were plenty of fish, but, you'd never know it with the way the angry sky teased stormy weather. Overcast, muggy, and quite bland, the fauna were hiding away from what would soon be rainfall.

The scenery lacked it's usual appeal, and her territory, one that was normally just as beautiful as the claymore who lurked there, had a blemish she cared not to think about...just as she felt ill by taking in the sights before her, a girl who had been beaten a bruised. The smell on the child had been rather vile, and even though she looked to be fragile, she was anything of the sort. She couldn't have been as weak as she appeared. Her strength was clear, since she could keep pace with a monster and follow her through difficult terrain.

Yet, Teresa was quite bothered by her discoveries, and her musings on the matter.

The claymore had tossed the girl into the water without thinking twice, watching as the child awoke with a fright, spluttering all the while. With orders to bathe gifted firmly upon the child's ears Teresa found a place to sit, overlooking the spot where the girl stood, nude and without cover. Part of it was for the girl's protection, and Teresa's own as well, though she'd never admit that.

As a claymore, she couldn't afford to let the girl get swept down the stream if she were to collapse again. That was the logical part, but, even though she was a monster, Teresa was also partly human, and inclined to amuse that so often muddled side.

She was perhaps more human than her sisters in arms, since she rarely used her powers at all. She was stunning in combat due to her ability to contain her raw power. That was not something easily accomplished, and Teresa did it with ease. Revered due to her skill, her beauty, her faint smile that seemed to gaze on into the distance. She was so stunning, and yet, so flawed...just as every claymore was.

Although she was proud to be just a little confidant in her ability, arrogance wasn't interest an of hers...although, neither was looking after a defenseless human girl.

That's why she found it so odd, amusing this quite human whim, considering Teresa herself was an inhuman beast. Bathing the girl, feeding her, protecting her as she slept...these were things that were human feelings, she was sure. While it was true she had to look after the child's well being, she most certainly didn't have to be kind to her. She didn't have to reassure her, or keep idle promises, and yet, Teresa found herself doing just that. She leaned heavily on her blade, contemplating just how obscure this situation had become.

Watching with mild disinterest during their travels, she had to admit, she's grown to adore the child. This girl would endure so much, would cling so desperately, to a person that should be feared. Loneliness, a claymore's personal hell, lifted from Teresa's shoulders. It was the first time, in a long time, that she felt the contented urge to laugh freely...this girl seemed to bring that out a lot in her. Laughter, joy, emotions...gifts that Teresa had forgotten.

Even now, several days after the horrific fire had ravaged a nearby village, even after nightmarish events loomed over them, this girl still remained at her side. Happy to follow a monster without question. It was unorthodox, uncanny, and entirely refreshing. "Clare, don't start lagging behind." Yes, her pet had a name, and oddly enough, it was no longer as if the girl was a lost animal. "Are you growing tired?"

"No." Came the simple chirp. "I can keep going."

"That's good." Somehow, the child she'd come across, malnourished and lacking for even words, had found a renewed sense of worth. "Come here, it's going to rain soon." Teresa wasn't about to question how on earth a small child could find her voice and her freedom in the throes of a monster's war. "We will continue until sunset, the sooner we can find a dry place to rest at, the better." Still, as she held the girl close, using her cape to shelter the girl at her side from rain, she couldn't help resting her hand atop Clare's head. _I know I considered this before, but now I'm curtain. I'll keep you by my side, for as long as you so wish it. _The thought bothered her, and so, she sighed. "Clare, I need you to understand, being what I am, there is very little I can offer you."

Clare nodded, but didn't say anything, trying to best to keep pace with her protector.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather a human family?" Fear struck Clare's glistening eyes that were filled with the vibrancy of life. The girl clung onto her, and guilt form not so long ago filled Teresa's heart. "I'm not going to force you." The woman told her, putting a firm hand on the girl's shoulder I promise. "I'll look after you, if you want."

"Promise?" Clare asked, her voice full of hope.

"For as long as I am able, you have my word." That was how it all started, on that fateful day betwixt the rain that pattered into the ground, and the long journey ahead of them. _Is this what a woman would call maternal instinct? If so, I don't mind._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Over 14k more to make good on, so with that said, here is the next installment.

I do not own Claymore.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_It is uncanny, to see a human girl wait for me so eagerly._ The claymore thought with a hint curiosity. As she strode along, blade in hand, she came back to the place where she'd left the child, glad to see no harm had come to her. Like a kitten, she'd all but sprung from her hiding place, if only to come directly to the warrior's side. It didn't seem to matter that the smell of blood and war cloaked her, or that she wasn't exactly in the mood to have such a greeting. "Hello to you too, Clare." She said softly, running her fingers through the messy locks atop the child's head. "If you're hungry, we should go to the stream to bathe, and to find you some nourishment."

The child nodded, a contented smile on her face, though she didn't say anything more than that. She was a girl of very few words, if any at all. Sure, she would prattle on, if the topic at hand needed her to do such a thing. Mostly, she took confidence that the woman who took care of her would know everything. It was when she looked up, a tiny frown slipped across her face. "Blood." She said, the severity in her voice enough to indicate she was entirely horrified by it.

"Not mine, dear." Teresa told the girl, raising her hand to smear away a droplet that had landed on her brow. "This is merely my reason for wishing to go to the stream." She allowed the girl to examine her hand for several long moments, until the inquisitive child was satisfied. "Now then, I've been gone for quite some time...you've got to be hungry. A human needs to eat, I apologize that I've forgotten that again."

"A human..." Clare sighed. "We do not need to eat so many times a day." The girl told her shyly. "Many do not."

"Many should." The claymore replied as they began along the path. "It is true I suppose, a human needs not eat in the endeavor of be accused of gluttony, but to eat not at all, that's simply a horrible crime."

"Why?" The little girl asked.

"It is only natural." Teresa said as she brought them to the stream. There were fish swimming about freely. "If you were to ask your own gut, you would know such a simple thing." Teresa didn't think twice as she caught one on her first attempt. "A human withers away, because despite what you may think, child, you are unlike me." As she said it, the soft smile she was known for eased her words. She shooed the girl off. "Now, go bathe, and I shall prepare for you some supper."

"Teresa?" The innocent girl paused.

"Yes, Clare?" A murmured response.

"We are the same too, I think." It was with that admittance that she disrobed, jumping into the cool water not far away.

_If that is what you think, it is only because you do not see the truth. You do not understand the way the world works. _Teresa thought, she gave no hint to such troubled musings that lingered, seeming only to taunt her. _You should live with your own kind, I still believe that, even now._ Regardless of what she thought, her promise had stood firm, her eyes cutting through the harsh winds of life, just as her sword cut down enemy after enemy. The forest was her homeland, and although she was a traveler, she was not entirely without a dwelling of her own. There were often times she'd leave the child there. Each and every time, she would be greeted with all of the joy one would expect from a child without her master. If Teresa looked up from where she sat, the tiny cottage would come into view. _Perhaps we've been away too long?_ She thought to herself idly. _A little girl requires normalcy, I can't provide that._ It forced her to regard Clare, who was in the water.

_I wonder, why is it that you choose to stay with a creature such as myself? _Her eyes returned to the fire, glancing only every now and then to the girl playing in the shallows below. _It doesn't seem logical, though you are an unlucky one, by any stretch of imagination...yes, perhaps that is why you seek only the watchful eyes of the devils that walk upon these lands._ The saddening thought made her laugh, its cruelty far too much, even for one such as her. "Clare, you're meal is ready." When no answer came, she found her ward acting strange again. "What on earth are you doing?" She asked as the little girl seemed to inspect the weapon that stood in the ground. "You are silly, you know."

"It's like a mirror." The child said, gazing at herself in bewilderment. "So shiny and bright." It was only after her thumb graced the edge of it that she flinched away. "Sharp too..." She frowned.

"Well of course it is." Clare replied, a bit unsure of the lunacy this child had, even now. "Being that it is a sword, that does imply particular things." With care, she took the girl's wounded thumb and blotted away the blood. "Go and eat." She directed, without even giving thought to the pain the child must be in. "Off you go now." Expertly, she leaned into it, her prized weapon that would answer to her alone. _That this child considers this blade..._ Teresa sighed at that. _It matters not...she is merely a pet after all. _Try though she might to tell herself such a thing, time and time again, she'd considered her musings false. When pretense could no longer save her, ignoring the matter at hand was not an easy choice. Nor was it one she could take lightly. "The path you've decided upon is dangerous, child. Surely you know that."

"It isn't any more dangerous than I have already experienced." Clare said then, looking up from the fish she had been quietly nibbling on. "It's okay, isn't it?"

"It isn't a matter of that. I don't particularly mind what you do, so long as you remain safe whilst within my care." Teresa quipped without missing a beat. "My concern is merely that you've no idea what exactly you desire, only that you desire it." That this child would take an interest in a claymore, follow that beast around day and night, and then proceed to touch an implement that brought only doom. The entire idea in, and of itself, it had to be be completely ludicrous. Yet, here the child was, toying with the subject all the same. "Have you no idea at all? Can you not comprehend just what it is that you are asking for?"

"I know enough." Clare said, her dinner left forgotten. "We've been through this. You are Teresa to me, no one else." Much like she seemed to do when nothing else in the world made sense to her, she curled herself into Teresa's side, like the lost soul she truly was. "Does there have to be something harder than that?" The little girl asked, almost believing that she had missed a grave oversight in her plans.

"I'm afraid so." Teresa murmured then, her fingertips playing through the girl's damp hair. "If it were so easy, and if childlike whims would remain so, my kind would not exist." She prayed that a child could understand, but, this was all too much. "You take far too great an interest in things that you should not...I almost fear you wish to partake of the sword yourself."

"Can't I?" The question was innocent. Clare saw nothing wrong at all with the request.

_Why of all the things to beg of me..._ Now, Teresa was truly shocked. _The brazen of this girl! Really, still so naive. The gods tease me, surely...this is not at all what a child should hope for. _She took several long moments to contemplate that. "You wish to become my protege?" At the girl's nod, Teresa sighed. "Absolutely not, Clare. I have no idea where I would begin to explain all that is wrong with it. One such as that, does not belong within your mind." She told Clare sternly. "I don't expect you to understand."

"I will." Clare told her, unwilling to let the matter ease away. "I understand a little...I will more."

"Out of the question." Teresa told her again, though now she was starting to wonder otherwise. _Does this child really make me so weak? _It was a question that wouldn't have an answer, there was none the world could gift. _A claymore is merely a tool. No one should ever wish to become something so unsightly._ Still, she found the matter odd. "You are still a child, and as such, you would never have the strength needed. To become something so vile by nature is not a simple thing, and make no mistake, Clare. They call me a Claymore because I am able to do what no human can. I can do deeds that are irredeemable in the eyes of your kind."

"Good things too." Clare told her pointedly. "Not always bad things, you were made to protect humans, and that's a good thing."

"Regardless Clare, I am no more than a monster." Teresa explained. "Half human woman though I am, I have willingly taken on an obligation, but it is not one I would want you to take as well...there is no happiness in this life, no joy, only sorrow."

"Even so, you chose it too...didn't you?" The question lingered, unanswered, and left to own poisonous demise. "If you can choose, I can too." The child told her, in her normally defiant way. "I will choose."

"Then you truly are inflicted with a madness that cannot be stopped." Teresa replied, leaving it at that. "Clare, you know nothing of what you ask."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Why in the world does this one character have so many names? It's like, holy crap, pick a name and don't fart with it! I'm not kidding, fans of the series at Youmacon were actually arguing the name of this character. She has a ton of them... Ilena (manga)...Irene (anime)... Irena... (The love child name of the former two?) oh, and let's not forget Helena (Spanish manga...something I found out by a pure debacle only.) So, you'll have to pardon the fact I just stuck with Ilena if you're used to a different name variant of hers.

I do not own Claymore.

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**Chapter 3**

At first, she wasn't skilled in the acts surrounding the needs of a child, especially not the needs of one as young as Clare. She was meek enough for Teresa to be truly concerned for her. She was smart enough not to always need a guiding hand, though it was clear the often shy child demanded one. She was like a duckling, unwilling to stray far from the side of the claymore. Willing to look a deadly opponent face to face, rather than hide in a secluded spot for any length of time. The nearness even seemed to warrant sharing a bed. She favored the woman's lap for a pillow, when the forest would not provide a mattress. It was mildly alarming at first, and it took a while to accept, and get used to this human need known as coddling.

Teresa had made it a point now, to look and observe other children that looked to be around the same age, and found that the young girls often flocked to their mother's, taking interest in what they seemed to be doing. They took their mother's word as tutelage, and mimicked the things they did, at least, that's what occurred in the shops. On the streets, they were amongst children their own age, giggling and laughing, not always with an adult present. These odd practices were not secluded to females alone, young boys seemed even more to follow their father's insistent prattling, as a visit to a smithy one day had shown her. When released to enjoy themselves, they too sought leisure with like minded, and properly aged individuals.

This had brought the claymore to two very important, but bothersome conclusions. The first of which, was that Clare would need to learn some sort of trade to survive at all, and, the trade of the Claymore was what she was observing at all times. The second issue was that humans were social creatures by nature, and when such a creature had only one companion she could trust, it was no doubt that she would cling to it so desperately, even to face harm to maintain the connection, least it be lost someplace forever.

"Are you sure, you would not like to go into the city?" Teresa offered, trying so very hard to integrate this girl into a world that would better fit her. "There are pretty trinkets to be found there, and we could use some more food for you soon."

"Mmhm." The answer was a shake of the head, indicating the negative. "We have food."

"Meat and fruit, that is not enough for a human girl." Teresa protested calmly, trying to get the child to see reason. "You can't grow strong without grain and dairy as well. We have no milk, and our ability to retrieve cheese is finite at best."

"I won't be human for long." Clare said, still sure of the blade she so envied as the woman leaned on it, even if that was just to keep the child from touching it. "One day, I will be like you."

"Clare, you ask of me a difficult thing." Hearing those words day in and day out for nearly a year now, it was clear the girl had made her choice. "It requires much more than I care to explain to one as young as yourself. To even become what I am, you must do something awful, and it only gets worse from there." It was the noisy rustle of the trees that called their attention, and two sets of eyes followed the bitter scoffing sound that came soon after. "Who goes?" Teresa asked.

"Unbelievable." The woman, if she could even be called that, declared as she came out from the cover of the forest. "I would not believe it myself, if I hadn't seen such a sight with my own two eyes." She sighed, shaking her head is dismay. "The number one, Teresa, harboring a fugitive? A human girl at that!"

"Go inside, Clare. Prepare some food." Teresa told her charge, sheltering her from the fellow claymore, fast on the approach. "See to it that you cut enough fruit for three, we'll be having a guest it seems."

"Is it not dangerous?" Clare asked unwilling to move away just yet. "Shouldn't I stay?"

"Don't worry, it's less a fight than you think." Teresa said then, offering a true nod of assurance. "This is a claymore, and thus my kin. It wouldn't serve well to have any true battle. Not over something as mundane as your presence, Clare. Trust me on that." The girl nodded, seeking safety inside, and that's when it was finally time to discuss matters far more freely. "Ilena, you've come a long way merely to act on a whim. Don't you have something far more fortuitous that you could be doing?"

"I could ask the same of you." Ilena replied in kind. "Do you think that this is wise?"

"To note, it is not." Teresa told her comrade, though when their eyes met, she earnestly saw the concern that the woman attempted to hide to the best of her abilities. "Still, the girl is merely a pet, and there are no laws saying that I can't keep a human that desires to stay at my side. It does no harm to her, and thus, breaks no rules."

"No, I guess not." Still, the bylaws were only solidified for the sake of the humans they protected. "You break no laws, outwardly." If a claymore had any sense at all in her mind, she would know better than to get close to any such being, their mortality a danger in and of itself. "I don't think the organization would look at this favorably, but, you've already seen to amuse that, haven't you?"

"Clever as always, Ilena." Teresa said then with a subtle laugh. "True, the organization wouldn't exactly enjoy hearing word of this, but you have to admit, I had no other choice. If I hadn't seen to her care, it would be no doubt that I would have endangered her. She followed me into the forest, and then proceeded to refuse any human household. Danger in the woods proved to me that I simply couldn't abandon her, either."

"Your duty to protect her ended when you left her in the village." Ilena replied, unwilling to forfeit that simple flaw, one that could be seen as a grave mistake. "Don't you understand, you've meddled in human affairs...that's not something you can get away with easily." When Teresa seemed unmoved by the facts against her, Ilena sighed. "You favored one girl, and yet, you chose not to save the rest of the village."

"The only ones left alive, were of weak constitution. If they were not already maddened by the destruction around them, they were dead, or at least knocking upon the door." Teresa reported deftly. "The bandits, as well as Clare, were the only people I could have moved. To be quite frank, they sealed their own fate by the very fires they lit. If it so condemns them, so be it. A world without them is a brighter one indeed."

"I don't deny that the bandits deserved what was coming." Ilena pressed further. "I'm concerned about your motives. This is one human girl...one single person, and you chose this girl over fist fulls of men. Surely you can see where that leads you."

"What will they do?" Teresa fired back willfully. "Think hard and tell me honestly, do you believe they would have the gull to do anything?"

"A claymore pays her price for lesser crimes all the time." Ilena didn't miss a beat. "You aren't remiss from that."

"I suppose not, however, you'll find the fire was not my doing." For a brief moment, her composure slipped into a frown, for Clare was sitting at the kitchen window, and the girl was also troubled. "That child has suffered enough, and our job, our entire reason for breathing the air that we do, in the forms that we do, is for the sake of the humans in which we protect." Teresa insisted, her eyes also betraying her. "In that, I've done no wrong."

"You've not done rightly either." Irene groused. "Hence is the entire problem I face, and my reason to visit." She'd heard this girl was forcing a wind of change, and such a thing didn't sit idly by with those who revered the woman known for her distance in combat, the one who's elegance was the pinnacle of her strength. "We have higher hopes for you...hold you in true esteem. You are a light many don't have, and a reason to keep fighting, if only so that one day, perhaps even the best of us can compare to you. You're dashing their hopes, and giving a reason for murmurs to spread."

"You put me on the pedestal." Teresa reasoned. "If you kiss my feet, sullied though they are, that is your predicament, not mine."

"I thought this was just a short lived amusement, but I can see it isn't." Ilena shook her head, disgusted by it. "That isn't a good thing, not for you, not for the organization, not even for that girl."

"I am no stranger to the ill-begotten world in which we live, nor the lack of praise that comes from our servitude." Teresa's answer was just as grave.

"The humans fear us." Ilena mentioned, stating the obvious. "Now, they'll see one of the monsters they fear holding a slave."

"That isn't what she is." Her retort was filled with kindness, Teresa's fondness of the girl showing, she already knew that well. "You should know well, my intentions are not so hateful." She understood what other humans thought. "She is no slave."

"They see you gift her kindness, and they'll think worse. They'll see it as twisted and misplaced. Even our own kin would question it." Blunt as always when her temper was forced to the seeping, underlying issue to the matter, Ilena spat out what would be venom. "Have you taken that mere child to your bed and had such ways with her? Do you seek petty indulgences?"

"Do not provoke me, Ilena, not with something so perverse." Tersely, and with a sigh of regret, she found herself running her fingers through her hair. "I would take no joy in fondling a mere child in such a way, you of all people should know that." Still, such an extreme notion, one so utterly disturbing to her very heart, made her nip at her lower lip. "She's yet to have a cycle, let alone a hunger for such a thing."

"Yet you would gift her the attentions, if she so requested it?" The question was stern, but also confused. "Do you care so much for her that you would do for her all that she needs? No matter the cost, or depravity of your natures, you would amuse her?"

"Why ever not favor a human's whim? We do so already." Teresa said after some careful consideration to her own life, and what Clare's had been. "We live these half lives at their behest. We struggle, we stuffer, and we strive to protect those selfsame humans from harm." It annoyed her sometimes, even now more so, since Clare wished to take the blade as well. "We even endure the seven hells simply to become what we are. Having sworn to oath and honor, we do what we must." The entire thing was sickening, even their doom was little more than a reminder to just what monsters they were. "At the end of it all, we beg the one most dear to us, to cut away our very being. We ask to die at the hands of the ones we most care for, and if that does not deserve some retribution, I've no idea what does."

"You believe this girl is retribution?" Ilena asked, almost unsure of how anyone could have come up with that. "Is she so worthy? It is as you say, humans disfigure our nature into something far more evil than it needs to be...and yet, sometimes they heed us not enough."

"I believe, Ilena, that I have done no wrong to the oaths I swore to uphold." Teresa said then with an air of cool admittance. "I also believe, given that the organization will not over look this, I will receive my slap on the wrist eventually...it will not be my life." It was funny how a mere child could cause such a stir, but an uproar is certainly what she enticed. "Though, I also believe the girl has her own motivation to stay at my side as well. It is not so simple as loyalty, though that conclusion alone is befitting enough."

"Then what is her reason?" Now that was the question of the hour. One so grand, that it had in fact caused Ilena to wish the answer with rapt attention. "It's got to be an odd one, given the situation."

"Her upbringing is odd as it is." Teresa replied easily, knowing that to be the root cause of the child's inclination to loiter around unworldly beings. "That alone makes for an uncanny girl, who seems consumed in youthful endeavors." With a long suffering sigh, one that was a product of her many years of being a claymore herself, she could only come to one conclusion. "She desires to take up the blade, and I'm running out of ways to deny her of those wishes."

"Your pupil?" The thought made Ilena bite back a growl, muffled instead by a firm gulp. "She truly wishes that?" They both knew the outward implication. "She will take part of yours then, no doubt?" When Teresa nodded, Ilena cursed. "If that is the case, she will be strong."

"She would have to be." Teresa said, not out of haughtiness, but true concern. "The life we face daily is not an easy one. She has no idea the scorn she would face, though, I'm even less sure she would be better among the humans. They view her with the same malcontent, such is the reason I keep her at my side now." Another glance at the window and Clare had not moved. "Enough of this banter, Ilena, my charge grows restless, and weary from hunger. We should eat and rest while there is some to have. We both know we will be on the move again, missions wait for no one."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I do not own Claymore.

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_It's so easy to forget just how fleeting a mortal life can be. They grew so quickly, and age is something that seems so concrete. How many humans have I witnessed, how many have I seen become frail in my travels over these lands? _Teresa mused one morning, after paroling a spot in her region that seemed just a little out of place. There was an elderly man there, a man who had once been a little boy. For Teresa, it had seemed like a blink of an eye. _How long will it be, until Clare also reaches her expectancy? She stills seems so young... _She told herself, tousling the hair of the sleeping teen who had yet to wake up due to the position of the sun behind the clouds.

_Yet for a human, she has grown nicely.. _In truth, that little girl wasn't quite so little anymore. Somehow, without Teresa really noticing it, monsters under the bed had changed to nightmares of a different sort. Idle games were not to be found, and Teresa often found herself wondering just where the days of innocence had gone. Surely, they weren't here anymore. _She's still so quiet, so peaceful._ As the girl aged, Teresa had been met with an entire slew of problems, but none more so, than the choice she had been hard pressed to make. _Yet, she desires the blade more than any other that I've seen._ It made Teresa nervous, unbearably so.

She could not make such a choice, she knew, but, her superiors were interested, a mild glimmer of veiled hope seemed to shine in their eyes at the mention of the girl's whims. She remembered what it was like, when she first took Clare to meet the men veiled in black. It had been several years ago now, but, even so, it had never escaped Teresa's sharp mind. She remembered the event so very well.

"She could be strong." One of the men had said, only to be cast a rebuttal by a woman near him. "She could also be dangerous, no child should ever desire the power that lurks within." Then another would speak, either in praise, or denial, so went the conversation before the counsel, dark and mysterious as it was inside the chamber. Finally after several hours of bickering, Teresa's case saw fruition in the way she feared most.

One man in the darkest of cloaks, his eyes well hidden, and his aging body shaking from his efforts, stood up. "I feel it would be an experiment worthy of notice." He told Teresa, having heard all that there was to say. "There is merit in this girl, a solid desire to have that which she should not, and such a child has taken our interest, because she is a ward of yours." With great effort, he made his way across the assembly hall, and peered out at where Clare was, even though she had not been allowed in, the elderly man could see her from a distance. "It would be unwise to cast asunder such an opportunity as this, for if anything she would survive where others would not. She would triumph, because you are also such a being worthy of the notice your blade gives you." He nodded to himself. "If she seeks the guidance, and the blade, I see no reason to deny the child the request."

"She is still just a child." Teresa had added. "Too young for the blade, as of yet."

"We have accepted younger who have desired for the blade less." His response came simply as he rested heavily on his cane. "We have taken those who knew nothing of our ways, and shown to them everything. This girl could be strong, and I shall not deny a child who already covets the blade with so loyal a conviction." He took one last look outside, yes, she was still young. "You take her, you teach her, and when you believe she is ready, you bring her back. She will be deserving of the blade, if you deem her so."

In thinking of it now all these years later, and seeing how much Clare had grown, Teresa knew she could no longer keep the girl as she had. _Clare is not a pet._ Teresa reminded herself harshly. _She was a child, a child I raised, a child I protected, a child I schooled to be as wise as she can be._ It made her sigh, a frown lacing her features. _She can hunt, she can cook, and she could quite conceivably live here in the forest until her dying days. _With one last glance to the side, she swallowed hard. _But, can she take the blade?_

She had to speak with the girl about this, and chose to do it one final time over breakfast that morning. "Clare, if you do this, you'll sacrifice a great many things."

"Maybe it's worth it." The young woman said, now old enough to understand the ramifications behind creating a creature that was half woman, half beast. "You know I can't go live in a village, I doubt I have any other future as it stands now." To the fullest extent that a human could comprehend, Clare had learned all she could about the lifestyle. "This is probably the best future I'd have."

"You could remain as you are right now." Teresa told the girl. "I would not cast you aside, I would care and clothe you, just as I've always done." With a near sense of urgency, Teresa continued. "That way, if you ever desired the happiness that only a human woman can have, you'd still have the luxury."

"That would require a man." Clare said pointedly, in jest and in truth. "Where might I find one of those? I never stay in city boarders, I doubt I ever will."

_I've gone soft..._ Teresa thought to herself. "Clare, in order to become what I am, you must take in the flesh and blood of a Yoma. You've seen the scar I have, you must know it is not an easy thing to endure." Teresa sighed, locking her lips when she felt herself scowl. She would not display such anger, confused and pained as it was. "Our scars will never heal, and you will forever be marked. The process is painful, surely you must know this, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Clare said, refusing to to look away from the pale women. "I've had no choice, you chant it so much, as if I'm still too young to decide." At first, she'd been quite taken with the appearance, uncanny as Teresa was. Now, Clare knew well, all of the women who became claymore lost a good amount of pigmentation. Their hair was white, their eyes a steely color, they were the embodiment of an unnatural being, in a natural body. Still, Clare could only think it beautiful. "Still, I wish to become your kin, is that really such a bad thing? You warn me of every trial, and speak nothing beyond pain." In the forest, Clare had grown up in an uncivilized world, with the kindest woman she'd ever known. "Are you in that pain now?"

"I was fortunate." Teresa replied. "Fortunate enough to have a petulant child, mute at that, follow me relentlessly." She leaned into her sword, closing her eyes in those memories that were farther away than she cared to admit. "I was lucky Clare, to have been able to keep my wit in the proper place, whenever I saw that you were in danger." She swallowed hard at that. "I was blessed with a gift that many of my kind will never have." She had always prayed to have that very joy torn away from her, at Clare's own behest, but it had never happened. The child had stayed, and somehow, the girl's uneasy childhood had given way to this stubborn, wayward adolescence. Soon, even that would be ending. She was old enough now to leave and have a family. Clare wanted nothing to do with it, and once again, the heavens had given Teresa the one thing she ought not to have. "I am no longer in such pain, however, that is only because I've had you."

"Then, do me this one favor, and allow me this misfortune." Clare begged. "Just this one hell, I promise, I will not ask for another." Teresa's hand was cool to the touch, even when warmed, they always seemed to remain so cold. "Please, only this one time." How could a woman so frozen be so kind, so gentle? Yet, in everything this woman did, she was nothing, if not gentle. She was not a cold monster who tore beings limb from limb. Her battles were quick, her strikes decisive. She was strict, but never unfair. Her stern eyes were a comfort, even now, during a time such as this. "Allow me the unhappiness, if that is what it is."

Teresa could feel the warmth, and the dire plea that was at her mercy. It would be her choice, her word. _I could crush this girl._ Teresa thought to herself sadly. _Even as she is, I could destroy her just as easily as I coddle her. She is a weak human, and I am not._ Teresa closed her eyes yet again, her thumb running across that warm cheek. _To become what I am, she would lose even this..the warmth a human has...she desires to throw it away...but, why?_ It wasn't something that would have an answer, and thus, it was not something Teresa could voice. "In doing this, you will forfeit many freedoms. If you are so inclined, I will allow it."

That choice was something Teresa hadn't wanted to consider, but, she knew several years would be put into Clare's training. The time it would take to get Clare acclimated to a body would be a long road, and somewhere along such a path, acceptance had to be someplace. It was inevitable. Without that, Clare would succumb to her new form and die before her training. She would be strong, such a form required her to be so, and, once again, Clare was true to herself. She wanted nothing more than to do what she should never even dream of. _Perhaps I sealed her fate, going to rescue her as I did._ What other choice did she have? _If I hadn't come to her side, what would have happened to her?_ It was unknown, and, it mattered very little.

They traveled to the organization. There, the doctors opened the both of them up, taking one of Teresa's organs, one that was not vital, and implanting it inside of Clare. The deed was rather uneventful for one who had already endured the suffering once. For a girl such a Clare however, Teresa was unsure. Weakened, but not to be dissuaded, she waited for Clare to wake from induced slumber. She waited for what she knew to come. That part was the worst of all, because she had already endured it herself...she would not undergo the transformation a second time.

Several hours had gone by before Clare even awoke a cold sweat. "Teresa!" Her voice echoed, rattling the chains on the wall, and silencing those who'd gone mad from isolation.

"Hush. Do not be scared." She brushed away at the young woman's dripping bangs, clearing them from her forehead, placing a comforting kiss atop it. "Rest, Clare." She told the girl, taking hold of her hand, careful not to jostle her. "I will not stray, I am right here."

Incoherently, Clare murmured oddities, hallucinating at every little flicker of light that came from the candles. Her hands and feet were chained to the bed, her body fastened for her own safety. Naked, her body could not feel the chill in the air, though it responded as if it did. She would be bound until her scar was strong enough to endure her movements. The first few weeks would be the worst, learning to accept the pull of the stitches every time she stretched, every time she breathed. Eventually, Teresa knew, it would be second nature, but not for a long time.

The chilly tones of agony, the screams, the fluids that would seep from the large incision, were what made Clare's first week hard to survive. Nights plagued by visions, powers that had no master, pain that had no cure. Clare was condemned. Locked away with the other girls, ones like herself, who would know nothing of the light of day in those confined spaces. Madness was quick to consume all of the girls, at least, at first. The mental breakdowns were required for the power to take shape, for their bodies to fit their new molds...eventually, her body consumed its new offered power. The dank conditions did little more than invite infection...and better so that she would catch it...better it be treated now, in the safety of the organization, rather than out someplace else, away from medical care.

The entire time, from fury to tears, Clare was broken down and reborn bit by bit. Teresa was there the entire time, protected her, held her, and waited for the girl to cope. Finally after several months, Clare was ready to be moved into a more open facility. The room gifted to her had only two things. A large bolder, and, her new sword.


End file.
